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Chapter XV: Appendix: G

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SPANISH CUTLERS

In former times excellent cutlery, such as knives, scissors, daggers, spearheads, and surgical instruments, was made in Spain, at Seville, Albacete, Toledo, Valencia, Pamplona, Ronda, Peñíscola, Guadix, Ripoll, Mora, Olot, and Tolosa. Rico y Sinobas has given an interesting description of the workshop and apparatus of one of these old Spanish cutlers--his graduated set of hammers, weighing from a few ounces to five pounds, his hand-saws, bench-saw, chisels, pincers, files, and drills, his forge, measuring from a yard square to a yard and a half, his two anvils of the toughest iron, the larger with a flat surface of three inches by ten inches, for ordinary work, the smaller terminated by conical points for making the thumb and finger holes of scissors.[63] The method of tempering and forging practised by these cutlers was much the same as that of the Toledo swordsmiths.

[63] _Noticia Histórica de la Cuchillería y de los Cuchilleros Antiguos
en España_ (_Almanaque de El Museo de la Industria_, Madrid, 1870).

Rico y Sinobas also embodied in his essay the following list of cutlers and cutler-armourers, who manufactured knives, penknives, scissors, parts of firearms, or heads and blades for lances, halberds, and the like. The following is a summary of the list in question:--

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NAME. | DATE. | WORKED AT
--------------------+---------------------+----------------------------
Acacio |17th century |? He made spearheads and
| | fittings for crossbows.
| |
Aguas, Juan de |Early in 18th century|Guadix.
| |
Alanis |Late 16th century |? Maker of fittings for
| | crossbows.
| |
Albacete |Late 18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Ambrosio |Late 18th century |Mora. Maker of large
| |scissors for
| |sheep-shearing.
| |
Arbell, Ramón |17th century (?) |Olot. Knife-maker.
| |
Azcoitia (the elder)|Late 15th century |Guipúzcoa (?). A celebrated
|and early 16th |maker of pieces for
| |crossbows.
| |
Azcoitia (Cristóbal)|16th century |? Also a maker of pieces for
| | crossbows. He was the
| | fourth descendant of the
| | family who worked at this
| | branch of the cutler's
| | craft.
| |
Azcoitia (Juan) |16th century |? Perhaps a member of the
| | same family. He also made
| | pieces for crossbows.
| |
Beson, Manuel |18th century |Madrid. Knife-maker.
| |
Bis, Francisco |18th century |Madrid (see Vol. I.,
| |p. 273). Maker of knives and
| |arquebuses.
| |
Blanco, Juan |16th century |Maker of crossbows, and of
| |pieces for the same.
| |
Castellanos (the |18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
elder) | |
| |
Castellanos (the |Late 18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
younger) |and early 19th |
| |
Castillo, Gregorio |Late 16th century |Cataluña (?).
| |Scissors-maker.
| |
Cerda, Miguel de la |Late 16th century |Madrid and Segovia. He made
| |scissors and other
| |cutlery.
| |
Criado, Juan |Early 17th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
| |for crossbows.
| |
Diaz, Pedro |Early 18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Escobar, Cristóbal |Late 16th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
|and early 17th |for crossbows.
| |
Escobar, Juan |17th century |Madrid (?). Son of the
| |preceding, and also a maker
| |of pieces for crossbows.
| |
Fernandez Manso |Late 18th century |Guadalajara. A Portuguese,
de Payba, José | |naturalized in Spain. He
| |was a scissors-maker of
| |considerable fame.
| |
Fuente, Pedro de la |Late 15th century |Madrid (?). Maker of
|or early 16th |crossbows and their pieces.
| |
García, Domingo |Late 17th century |Madrid. Arquebus-maker and
| |cutler.
| |
García de la Torre, |Early 18th century |Guadalix and Alcorcón.
Teodoro | |Cutler. In company with
| |Manuel Beson, he invented a
| |method of converting iron
| |into steel.
| |
Garijo |18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Garro, Martín |Early 15th century |Pamplona. Cutler and
| |swordsmith. A letter dated
| |October 31st, 1406, records
| |that he was paid five
| |_escudos_ for making a
| |sword, and one _escudo_ for
| |a dagger.
| |
Gomez, Mateo |Late 17th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Grajeras |17th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
| |for crossbows.
| |
Grande, Juan |17th century |Madrid (?). Maker of
| |lanceheads.
| |
Gutierrez |Late 17th century |Chinchilla. Scissors-maker.
| |
Hernandez, Juan |16th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
| |for crossbows.
| |
Herraez, Andres |Late 16th century |Cuenca. Arquebus-maker and
| |cutler.
| |
Herrezuelo (the |Late 16th century |Baeza. Cutler.
elder) |and early 17th |
| |
Herrezuelo (the |Early 17th century |Baeza.
younger) | |Scissors-maker.
| |
Horbeira, Angel |Late 17th century |Madrid. Cutler; a native of
| |Galicia, and reputed to be
| |one of the best craftsmen of
| |his time. He was known as
| |_El Borgoñon_, and passed
| |his early life in Flanders.
| |
Hortega |Early 16th century |? Maker of pieces for
| | crossbows.
| |
Lallabe, Juan de |Early 19th century |? Cutler, locksmith, and
| | maker of surgical
| | instruments.
| |
Lastra, Juan |17th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
| |for crossbows. He was one
| |of the latest and most
| |celebrated of these
| |craftsmen.
| |
Leon |Early 18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Llorens, Pablo |Late 17th century |Olot. Cutler.
| |
Marcoarte, Simon |Late 16th century |Madrid. Arquebus-maker and
|and early 17th |cutler. He was the son of
| |another craftsman of the
| |same name, who settled in
| |Spain in the reign of
| |Charles the Fifth
| |(see Vol. I., p. 273).
| |
Martinez, Juan |Early 16th century |? Maker of darts and lances
| | for crossbows.
| |
Mendoza, Francisco |Early 18th century |Trigueros (Old Castile).
and Manuel | |Cutlers.
| |
Moreno, Luis |Late 15th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
|or early 16th | for crossbows.
| |
Moro, El |Late 18th century |Madrid. Cutler.
|and early 19th |
| |
Muñoz of Getafe |16th century and |? Maker of pieces for
|early 17th | crossbows.
| |
Óipa, Juan | ? |Madrid. Maker of crossbows.
| |
Perez de Villadiego,|16th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
Juan | |for crossbows.
| |
Perez, Julian |Early 17th century |Madrid (?). Maker of darts
| | and lances for crossbows.
| |
Puebla (the elder) |Early 16th century |Madrid. Maker of parts of
| | crossbows.
| |
Ramirez, Juan |Late 16th century |? Cutler. He emigrated to
| | the city of Puebla de los
| | Angeles, in Mexico, where
| | he continued to make
| | knives, scissors, and
| | weapons of good quality.
| |
Renedo (the elder) |Early 16th century(?)|? Maker of darts and lances
| | for crossbows.
| |
Renedo (the younger)| Late 16th century |? Son of the preceding. He
| | and early 17th made the
| | same objects as his
| | father.
| |
Romero |Late 18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Rosel | ? |Mora. Scissors-maker.
| |
San José, Brother |Late 17th century |Jaen. Scissors-maker.
Antonio | |
| |
Santamaría |Late 16th century |Madrid (?). Maker of pieces
|and early 17th |for crossbows.
| |
Selva, Juan |Late 18th century |Cartagena and Madrid. Cutler
| |and iron-founder.
| |
Segura |Late 18th century |Mora. Scissors-maker.
|and early 19th |
| |
Sierra, Juan |18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Soler, Isidro |Late 18th century |Madrid. Arquebus-maker,
| |and early 19th cutler, and
| |author of _An Historical
| |Essay on making Arquebuses_.
| |
Sosa |17th century |Madrid (?). Maker of weapons,
| |especially the heads of
| |lances.
| |
Targarona, |Late 18th century |Madrid. Arquebus-maker to
Francisco | |Charles the Third and
| |Charles the Fourth, and one
| |of the most skilful
| |craftsmen of his day.
| |
Tijerero, El | ? |Toledo. Maker of swords and
(Domingo Sanchez) | |scissors.
| |
Torres |Early 17th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Ucedo |Late 16th century and|? Maker of pieces for
|perhaps early 17th | crossbows.
| |
V.... |16th century (?) |Toledo (?). Scissors-maker.
| |The rest of this craftsman's
| |name is not known.
| |
Valderas, Pedro de |16th century |Madrid and Valladolid. Maker
| |of pieces for crossbows.
| |
Vicen-Perez, Pedro |Late 17th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |
Vilarasa, Antonio |Late 17th century |? Cutler and razor-maker.
| |
... Emt.., Julian |Early 18th century |Albacete. Scissors-maker.
| |Only a fragment of his name
| |has been preserved upon a
| |blade. Rico y Sinobas
| |suggests thatthe entire
| |surname may have been
| |_Vicen-Perez_.
| |
Zeruantes, |Late 17th century |Toledo. Maker of blades for
Francisco | |halberds.
| |
Zamora ("the deaf") |Late 16th century |Castile. Cutler,
|and early 17th |
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The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 3 (of 3)Chapter XV: Appendix: G

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